The present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for delivering ammunition from a container structure to a firing weapon.
In its more particular aspects, the present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for delivering ammunition from an ammunition container structure to a firing weapon, wherein the cartridges in the ammunition container structure are arranged side by side as well as one behind the other and are located in endless storage chains.
In a known ammunition magazine of this type as described in German Patent No. 3,200,726, published Dec. 2, 1982, a multiplicity of cartridge rows are stored within a housing without there being required partition walls between the cartridge rows. The ammunition magazine comprises a cover or top plate and a floor or base plate which are separated from each other by a predetermined number of walls disposed perpendicular thereto, thus forming between the top plate and the floor plate a predetermined number of ammunition storage sections or stores and guide channels. An endless link chain is provided in these ammunition storage sections and guide channels and serves to deliver the ammunition stored within these storage sections and guide channels to a discharge opening of the magazine. This link chain is structured to hold at least two rows of cartridges mounted one behind the other between the top plate and the floor plate, whereby the lengthwise axis of each cartridge extends substantially perpendicular to the top plate and the floor plate.
This known ammunition magazine can store a relatively large number of cartridges within a relatively small space. However, with the aforementioned link chain, the cartridges can be supplied to only one single discharge or extraction opening of the container. Such a container is thus not capable of being used with a twin-barrel firing weapon because it is not possible to deliver cartridges from this container simultaneously to both weapon barrels.